Shikon Shards and Obsidian Mirrors
by LadyRainStarDragon
Summary: A Kami and his Chosen visit Higurashi Shrine searching for soul bits. Threads of Destiny bind them to Kagome, and searches parallel for a time in the Spirit Realm around Modern Tokyo.
1. Ageless Search

ShikonShards and Obsidan Mirrors  
Chapter 1: The Ageless Search  
By: LadyRainStarDragon

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

This chapter was formerly archived in "Threads of Destiny."

Those who have followed me from the Spirited Away fandom will recognize a few characters. However, these characters for those who do not know are original characters that I have created. If by some miracle I work in a character belonging to Miyazaki-san, I'll note that.

* * *

The wind blew her on her rootless way, a cursed child who was looking for salvation or healing. Once, her rich brown hair had been long, but not very long ago, she had cut it short, in mourning for those that she had lost. Her father had been claimed by her family curse in her childhood, as had the one that she had loved. Or so she thought her love had. Destiny has her way, and who can understand her workings? 

The searching one found herself today in Tokyo, her new friend at her side as they climbed the stairs to this sacred Shrine. The passing winds ruffled her chin-length hair, blowing it around a narrow face set with twin sapphires gazing brokenly out upon the world. She felt a power here, and now she would wander all of Japan until she found where she was being called by her ancestors. Not a drop of Japanese blood flowed in her veins, she being of Irish and Apache descent, and yet after the loss of her beloved Obsidian, this is where Destiny lead her.

Tripping on a step, she was caught by strong arms that had taken care of her since their first encounter at Mount Fuji. This spirit had been loyal to her ever since, even though she had mistreated him so much. As she gazed at him, she felt a keen sense of loss, for his earthy eyes and gentle face looked so much like her lost love, and it was as though it were him with a shorter hairstyle. The wanderer tried to hide her pain, but the dragon who wore this human form had seen it anyway.

"Are you sure you want to pray here?"

"Yes, this is the Shrine that pulls me today."

"As you wish. Shall I carry you?"

"No. I can walk on my own."

In silence, the pair continued on, and as they crested the top of the stairway and passed through torii, the view of a magnificent tree greeted the travelers. The Shrine compound had a wholesome and welcoming feeling to it, but the girl who walked from a mini-shrine into the living quarters had a decidedly sad air as she lugged her pack with her. Her short green skirt and the sailor top that she wore revealed that she was a school student in the area, but BlowingWind had not been in the country long enough to know which school.

"Wench! You're going to hurt yourself like that. You really will break your brain if you take that test now!"

"Inuyasha! Osuwari."

A young man in red was plunged to the ground as he exited the same building that she had, creating a nice hole in the ground. His snowy hair spread over him like a short cape, but it did nothing to hide the dog-like ears on the top of his head. The child of a distant land couldn't hold back her laughter, although she knew she should. There was just something absolutely comedic about seeing somebody fall to the ground with just a word. Now if she could only learn how to do that with her dragon protector when he overstepped his bounds. Like he had in the forests at the base of his home.

The pair looked at the newcomers with dread in their eyes, and as the wind played with the midnight locks of the young woman, the young man sprang from the ground and drew a previously unnoticed sword. How the dragon and his beloved spirit warrior of unknown destiny had missed the behemoth weapon before, Creator only knew. With the young man's aggressive stance, the force of the magma placed himself between his human companion and the hanyou.

"Who the hell are you dragon, and what are you doing here?"

The breeze ruffled the man's spiky black hair, while Amaterasu gazed serenely down at the dragon disguised as a normal Asian man. His white shirt had an image of a black and red dragon wound about a young maiden, but whether she was trapped there or merely resting was left to the eyes of the beholder. The miko behind the hanyou watched in wide-eyed fascination, wondering if he were a youkai or a kami, believing the spirits to be either all gone in her time, or in hiding. The dragon merely held his arms out to his sides, showing that he had no weapons.

"My friend merely wished to pay her respects to the kami of this Shrine. I am Ryu of the House of Take, a magma river kami from beneath Mount Fuji."

The girl before the house put down her pack, bravely passing the half-demon that had accompanied her, and paused before Ryu and the foreign girl. The dragon merely looked at her soul, a shining jewel that looked so much like an opal. So this was the miko in the legends of the Shikon no Tama.

"Are you here for the jewel?"

Ryu merely shook his head. He had forgotten that the legends, though five hundred years old for him and the rest of the world, were the present for the young miko.

"What would I do with such a thing? It can not perform the task that I wish. Only time can do that."

Having said this, he looked gently at the Shaman who had fled across the sea and into his life, noticing how the clouds of gloom had once more attempted to shroud the turquoise being from his view. The miko of the Sunset Shrine followed his gaze, seeing the pain and shyness emanating from the girl who also had holy power of a kind. The inu-hanyou scoffed in the background, clearly able to smell the claims that the magma kami had placed on the human he was traveling with. Such a union would only produce another being to hide in shadows, at least in his view.

Kagome saw the need in the other young woman's eyes, recognized the same look of loss that she had seen in her best friend, Sango. This woman needed to talk, to vent, to find a way to heal. Being a caring soul, Kagome had to answer the call.

"I will take you there. What's your name."

The answer came after a moment for the girl to translate the question in her mind.

"MountainChild BlowingWind, miss."

"Hello BlowingWind, I'm Kagome."

The girls walked to the Goshinboku, the Miko teaching the Shaman how to address the kami that was the tree. After the foreigner had paid her respects, and listened to the advice that the miko could not hear, the pair sat together, as the visitor told her story.

While the girls had been thus occupied, the men had continued in their face off, Inuyasha not trusting the dragon that had trespassed into this territory. He was distrustful of anyone that he did not know, and this went triply for any dragon spirit after hearing of how his father had been killed as a result of battle with one. Being far older than the young hanyou, even taking in the passage of 500 years from the boy's own time, Ryu was indulgent as he realized that he would be the same way towards any intruder to his lands. It was during this standoff that they found themselves plastered with faulty scroll-spells.

"Demons be gone."

"Give it up jiji. They don't work."

Ryu smiled at the daitoku's wish to protect the sanctity of the grounds that he was charged with. The old man was a devoted servant of the guardian kami of this place, even if his powers had been curbed years ago, probably in preparation by Goshinboku for the awakening and arrival of the young one. Still, one thought remained in his head.

'This boy is the one that is supposed to defeat Naraku?'


	2. Secret's Out

Shikon Shards and Obsidian Mirrors.  
Chapter 2: Secret's Out  
By: LadyRainStarDragon  
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

For those following me from Spirited Away, this particular story does not tie in with it, unless Chihiro's grandpa shows up somewhere. I may change my mind though . . . For the most part, think of it as what Ryu and Wind were doing before they moved up to Hokkaido and got involved with the River Project.

* * *

Kagome clambered out of the well, glad to be back in her own time again. The old building soothed her with its scent, and behind her back her companion leaped out of the well carrying her pack. 

"I still don't see why you think it was so important to come back."

"I already told you I don't know either Inuyasha."

Shouting out in the courtyard cut off any further arguments the hanyou could make. Discarding the backpack, Inuyasha prepared for battle as the miko left the well house.

"How dare you!"

"I swear I was just trying to put the tamashii back in you! Koibito, how do you think I would take advantage of you?"

"Come down here like a man Ryu!"

"Not when you're wielding that bat you snagged from that poor boy."

The disguised dragon from her last trip home could be seen peering down from the uppermost branches of Goshinboku at the woman whose unusual predicament Kagome had heard only last week. This time he had on a blazing red shirt whose lettering she couldn't make out yet, and black jeans. The angry woman at the foot of the sacred tree was wearing a simple white dress that was very out of context with the way she stewed. Poor Souta was beside her, looking up in fascination at the young man.

"Is he like Inuyasha-niisan? Is he a demon too?"

"No, he's a scaly coyote that can't keep his hands to himself. Get down here Ryu."

Inuyasha couldn't help the laughter. It served the dragon right, anything that the grumpy woman gave him. He had heard Kagome muttering about how he had tricked the poor thing into her unwilling marriage agreement.

"Brought a Tiger into your house, eh Dragon?"

"Inuyasha! Osuwari!"

Inuyasha's face met the cobblestones as Kagome trotted over to BlowingWind.

"What did he do this time?"

"He groped me!"

"I did not! I was trying to keep that soul fragment from flying back off after you swallowed it."

"I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Yes! I'm innocent. I wouldn't have even touched them if the boy hadn't snuck up behind me and asked what we were doing."

Kagome shook her head.

"Souta."

Souta looked at his feet.

"I thought they were another couple using the well house for making out."

Flames engulfed Kagome as she heard what he said.

"Where did you learn to talk like that."

Souta cringed. Inuyasha for once used his head and pretended to still be stuck on the ground. BlowingWind cringed in pity for the boy. Ryu prayed that someone would save him from the horror of his girlfriend's anger when she turned her attention back to him.

"Ji-san told me to watch out for couples making out and to stop it if I saw any."

The flames of anger died a sudden death. Souta mentally thanked every kami he could think of, and slipped away when his sister's attention went up into the tree.

"You say you didn't grope her Ryu."

"Not intentionally anyway."

Inuyasha sat up, hoping to see the annoying dragon get something done to him. Kagome looked at BlowingWind.

"But you think he did."

"What else would he be doing with his hand on my chest?"

"Pushing the soul piece back in where it was trying to sneak off, that's what! And you say I have the dirty mind!" Ryu called from his perch.

At that moment Houjo cleared the top steps leading to the shrine, staring in wonder at the scary woman screaming an indecipherable cacaphony resembling Spanish at the man who had somehow gotten himself in the very top of the Sacred Tree. Shaking himself free again, he walked up to the odd group that his friend was with.

"How can you say that? I save your life my dear, and this is how you show me your love and gratitude? Not even the ryu-onna who laid me is so sharp with her words, even when she's ready to egg! I'll buy you a truckload of chocolate if you'll just give the miko the bat. This tree is starting to try to throw me out."

"Higurashi, is this a bad time?"

All heads, except Inuyasha's, swiveled to look at the newcomer. Inuyasha got in Houjo's face.

"Feh! Yes it is a bad time."

Houjo blinked.

"Is the man in the tree really a dragon?"

Kagome laughed, waving her hands as she knocked Inuyasha to the side with a hip. BlowingWind had gone bed sheet white, staring at the young man. Ryu smacked his head and mumbled incoherently about probably winding up back under the mountain for another five years.

"Oh no. He's just delusional. We don't know how he got up there either."

"Higurashi, you've been acting very strange for a very long time now. If that man really is a dragon, I think you should tell me."

"No! I'm just a crazy guy who likes to climb trees to escape the rage of my girlfriend. Nothing odd here!" Ryu called out, just before the tree branch flung him to the ground.

Ryu landed on his back.

"Ow."

Kagome put her head in her hands.

"This just isn't my day . . ."

"Tell me about it. By the way, when you got a spare minute, Wind and I found something we think you ought to have." Ryu moaned as he rolled over. BlowingWind forgot the bat, dropping it on the ground as she went to help Ryu up.

Houjo shook his head.

"No wonder you've been acting so odd when you manage to go to school."

"Keh!" Inuyasha crossed his arms. "I wouldn't tell anyone about this."

Houjo glared at the white haired boy that always wore the dog ears.

"I suppose that you some kind of youkai then. You may be her boyfriend, but I'm still her friend. Whatever's going on, I'm helping."

Kagome moaned.


	3. Tale of the Past, Shikon Kakera

Shikon Shards and Obsidian Mirrors.  
Chapter 3: Tale of the Past, Shikon kakera  
By: LadyRainStarDragon  
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

* * *

An elderly man with a grey topknot and traditional kimono and hakama quietly shuffled up to the group, having closed the shrine's shop for the day.

"When you are done Take-sama, I believe that you should come inside." Higurashi-daitoku bowed to the now erect for of the visiting dragon and then smiled at his grandchild. "Kagome, how nice to see you home."

Ryu nodded his thanks to Higurashi-daitoku before raising an eyebrow at BlowingWind and extending his elbow in invitation. BlowingWind took it and did her best to avoid his gaze as he smiled in triumph. As this was occurring Kagome took her face out of her hands to look at her grandfather.

"I'm beginning to think maybe I shouldn't have today."

"Nonsense. Your mother said that she knew you would be coming back today, and your arrival probably saved Take-sama's life. MountainChild-san was going to use a bow next, and he had made the mistake of teaching her how to use it not so long ago."

He began ushering the young adults into the house, separating Houjo and Inuyasha on instinct. It did no good though, Inuyasha still griped.

"Keh!"

Higurashi-nisou, Souta and Kagome's widowed mother was waiting in the living room with Souta, who was busy playing games on his Playstation. Without a word, Ryu pulled BlowingWind down with him in one corner, as if he had been seated there many a time in the past week. Kagome sat on the couch with Inuyasha at her feet. Houjo cat in a chair nearby and Ji-san paced the room.

After a short time, Ji-san turned to his granddaughter.

"You have to tell him. Mama and I are having troubles, and you need some allies in this time that know what you are going through besides us."

"But Ji-chan!"

"Kagome, you must. If you can't then I will."

"Keh!" Inuyasha broke in. "What good can he do Kagome?"

"Inuyasha, his family has old connections to our shrine. Although he is not a hereditary priest like those of our family, there is much that he may be able to help with." Higurashi-nisou murmured, smiling. "Besides, his knowing our secret may make it easier for us to convince the school that she is indisposed."

Inuyasha glowered at Houjo, trying to respect Kagome's mother.

"If I can be of any help, I will gladly do anything." Houjo replied and watched Kagome.

Kagome kept silent, gazing into her lap and shading her eyes with her bangs. Ryu shook his head and spoke before Higurashi-daitoku could.

"Five hundred years ago, give or take a few years, the Shikon no Tama or Jewel of Four Souls came into the keeping of a Miko that history tells us went by the name of Kikyou. A grave misunderstanding occurred between this Miko and someone that cared for her very deeply, taking both their lives, or so it was thought. The jewel was burned with her body to prevent it from falling into evil hands. Fifty years later, both the jewel and a young woman greatly resembling Kikyou were found. In an accident, the jewel shattered, spreading across the lands. Even the tiniest shard could grant immense power, and so many fought for control of these shards, but one more so than any others, who was also responsible for the original misunderstanding."

All eyes fell on Ryu as he told the story, save for those of his own Miko who he held in his lap although she looked like she would have rather been anywhere else.

"How do you know this?" Inuyasha raged.

Ryu was unperturbed, turning his eyes carefully on the young inu-gami hanyou and continuing his story.

"I am a historian, and during this period of time I heard many stories involving this jewel. It even effected my own family, resulting in a cousin of mine through marriage being temporarily overthrown by his former servant who was a water snake. A group of wanderers helped him regain his trident, although he was greatly distressed to have been mistaken for a woman and flirted with by the monk that was part of the band. I told him those earrings made him look like a woman, but they were part of the ceremonial regalia."

Ryu's smile at the thought broke through while Inuyasha gagged, then began laughing.

"Wait till I tell him he hit on a water god and not a water goddess like we had thought."

The dragon nodded.

"What happened next?" Houjo broke in.

"The Miko and her hanyou guardian, who was unsealed by her own hand, had to search for the jewels. They sit right there." Ryu gestured to Kagome and Inuyasha as BlowingWind began to yawn and relax into him.

"What did happen next?" Kagome had finally found her voice.

Ryu sighed and shook his head.

"If I tell you, it might affect your future. For me, this all happened five hundred years in the past even though for you it is now. BlowingWind, are you alright?"

Ryu eyed his Miko as she yawned again.

"I guess that tamashii was trying to escape. I'm very sleepy."

"More than likely that is a result of trying to kill me again. You need to control your temper better."

"Tamashii?" Houjo continued looking lost as Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Keh! Tamashii, soul bits. The onna's soul's broken, and this dragon is helping her gather them again because he wants her to be his woman."

"Inuyasha! Osuwari!"

"KU-!" Inuyasha's face introduced itself to the carpet forcefully.

"Kagome!"

"Gomen Mama."

BlowingWind watched curiously as Inuyasha pried himself off of the floor after Kagome's binding spell had worn off. "I wish I could do that. That looks useful."

Ryu winced.

"Not as delicately as I would have said, but true none-the-less. I have claimed BlowingWind as my own, but for her sake I am helping to retrieve her souls. Kagome, we have found something that I think you will be interested in."

BlowingWind blinked as he gently nudged her, then after sweeping her hair out of her face she removed a package from a pocket in her dress. "We found this in a jewelry shop. The proprietor was going to cut it and set it, but we convinced him to sell it to us the way it is."

Unwrapping the green tissue paper from the tiny plastic bag, BlowingWind displayed her strange find.

A small pink shard glinted up at the people in the room.

"This story may have been the past for Ryu, but for now it is our present as well. There are several in this time that I have been able to plot locations of while searching for myself. However, they don't seem to be in the material realm, with the exception of this one."

"How are you able to see these? Only Kagome and Kikyou are able to!" Inuyasha yelled in BlowingWind's face.

Kagome opened her mouth to utter the subjection word, but Ryu was too fast. In one fluid motion BlowingWind was behind him, and Inuyasha was under one foot as Ryu snarled.

"I may respect your family, but I will not tolerate you harassing my girlfriend. It is time for you to learn to control yourself better and use your vast energy in a more controlled manner. I can see why your brother is still so annoyed with you."

As Ryu fumed, he did not notice the angered woman getting ready to strike before his feet were swept out from under him. BlowingWind glowered down at the two males below her, then flounced to Kagome to both give her the jewel and to sit down on the sofa.

"I can take care of myself Ryu, that was unnecessary. He asked a question. I don't see them, I feel pieces of soul. I am looking for the pieces of my soul, but since this Jewel of Souls is broken it seems I can feel some of the pieces. If anybody has any more coherent explanation for this, then I'm all ears. I haven't gone very far in my training." BlowingWind continued muttering, this time incoherently as Ryu extracted himself from the position he had been dumped into.

"Great, now I smell like dragon." Inuyasha complained with his characteristic annoyance.

"Deal with it, I smell like him all the time." BlowingWind quipped.

"Well now, I think we should all have a nice dinner." Higurashi-nisou quickly changed the subject to something she hoped would preserve her home.

* * *

It is short, I am sorry. 


	4. Night Portal

Shikon Shards and Obsidian Mirrors.  
Chapter 4: Night Portal  
By: LadyRainStarDragon  
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

* * *

Kagome relaxed in a hot bath, the steam curling up around her as the water soothed weary muscles. The meal had not been the easiest one she had ever shared, and she had been very glad when Houjo, BlowingWind, and Ryu had left.

She knew that Inuyasha was waiting for her in her room, she could feel his glowering presence even in the sanctity of the bathroom. Kagome sank lower into the heated water.

"Not in the Material World."

The sigh fell from her lips like lead and she let her shoulders slip the rest of the way back into the water's embrace.

"Kami still interact bodily with the world, the Shikon no Kakera still exist but are found in the Spiritual counterpart of this world, and now Houjo knows about why I have been absent so much. I hope he doesn't tell the others, I can't have them getting involved in this."

Her eyes closed as she continued processing everything. Outside, a wind began to blow, and Goshinboku danced in it, singing his groaning songs of times past, present, and yet to be. Gradually, the groans began to take the shape of words in her mind, the flowery language of the ancient Japanese Norito twisting into a poem of indecipherable meaning only half-heard with her ears now in the water.

Soon enough, the song was done, and Kagome found herself waking up a few minutes later. She quickly got out and toweled off, covering the tub once more and getting into her pajamas.

"I need to go to bed."

Going out and closing the door behind her with a smart rap, Kagome turned and went to her room. There, Inuyasha was already asleep on the floor, or so it seemed, until she crawled into her bed. His golden eyes opened as her heart rate dropped into sleep, and once she was fully asleep he quickly left through her window.

A streak of red and white leapt up into the Goshinboku and settled on a branch for a night of watchfulness.

* * *

Elsewhere in Tokyo, another young woman was getting ready for bed, also wearied from her experiences through the day. As she toweled her hair dry, the bathroom door opened.

"Get out Ryu."

"I waited until you had your pajamas on Wind-chan."

His arms went around her, and tightened as a wind outside began to howl. BlowingWind shivered and backed into him. Words floated by that she could feel, her body responding to the magic behind them.

"What is the wind saying Ryu?"

His brown eyes narrowed as he held her tighter. He stifled a growl and the urge to take his natural form, the apartment being too small to accommodate him if he gave in.

"I don't know Koibito, but I don't like the magic in the air. I've never really been on very good terms with the wind spirits, but the portal you were looking for will be opening soon I think."

"I want to look for it Ryu."

"Of course, tomorrow. Tonight you need to rest." So saying, he scooped her up and calmly walked to the bedroom, depositing her on a plush futon covered in red and black.

He watched as the young woman fell asleep quickly, smiling as her innocence revealed itself in her repose, then quietly left the room to pace and listen for any more magic riding the air. The earth was restless; he could feel the other earth spirits tensing in wait to see whatever would be set in motion. Pausing at the large window in the living room, which overlooked the University that he had once taught at, he mused to himself.

"We have stayed so separate for so long, despite my own protests and those of several other spirits. I thought that all shards had been collected long ago."

The scenery did not reply, but the wind did begin to mock him, whispering of dangers to his charge and the changing of fate. Frowning, he firmly shut the window and then closed the blind.

* * *

The night was cold for summer, and the wind kept blowing intermittently, almost as if it were speaking. Inuyasha's amber eyes peered into the night, eschewing sleep and watching for danger. Below at street level, he could hear a young woman passing by at the base of the steps to the shrine, her heels clicking loudly and carrying easily to his ears.

Goshinboku groaned beneath the wind, as if he were muttering a counter spell of some type. Inuyasha would have liked to think that was a silly thought, but he knew better.

Motionless, he continued his watch and the steps eventually faded. The wind grew still again before a woman's shriek pierced the air.

"Kumiro!"

"Sora!" A man's voice answered her shriek.

"Feh!"

Inuyasha leaped out of the tree and practically flew to where the disturbance was, only to find a young man staring where the scent of a woman disappeared from the sidewalk. Something about him was familiar. Short black hair was pulled back into a small dragon's tail that stood out at the base of his neck, and a black suit much like the one Houjo often wore covered a slim body.

The young man's head snapped around from where he had been staring, and two amethyst eyes narrowed as they locked on the startled hanyou.

"Miroku? What are you doing here?" Inuyasha's surprise was evident in his voice.

The young man's eyes widened, then looked the hanyou over carefully.

"I am Taijiya Kumiro. There is a Miroku in my lineage though. Can you help me retrieve my sister?"


	5. Ghosts, Time to Leave

Shikon Shards and Obsidian Mirrors.  
Chapter 5: Ghosts, Time to Leave  
By: LadyRainStarDragon  
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

-------------------------------

"Kagome. Kagome-chan."

The soft voice threaded through the mists of her dreams, a slender figure appearing in the mist with a large object carried on her shoulder.

"Kagome-sama!"

Another familiar voice, this time male, called out to her as well, a robed figure walking out of the mist toward her as well.

"Sango? Miroku?"

The woman came out of the mist, and Sango looked exactly as she had when Kagome had left, although she was wearing her taijya uniform and a worried face.

"We need your help Kagome. Sora…"

"Has been taken." Miroku finished Sango's sentence.

"Sora?"

"It's not important Kagome-sama. But Sora needs your help. We need your help. The portal is nearby."

Miroku's voice was strained, as if he were tired, and trying to speak from far away. Sango picked up the rest.

"It is difficult. We will tell you more when you meet us. We will be waiting."

The mist closed in again, taking her friends with it. Kagome was alone in the endless white expanse. Something jumped on her chest, heavy and furry.

"Uf!"

Kagome sat up in her bed, the pink covers cast aside and falling to puddle on the ground. Buyo, her fat calico cat, fell into her lap with a discontented "mao."

"Buyo!"

He looked up at her, his great weight pinning her legs to the bed.

"I have to get up."

Buyo moved, but only just enough to allow her to slip out from under him before he went to sleep.

Going out the bedroom door and then down the stairs, she looked around for Inuyasha, mildly annoyed that he had not been there when she woke up. The front door creaked quietly, letting in the silver-haired hanyou she was looking for, and a young man following him.

"Inuyasha? I had a strange dream. Miroku and Sango were in it, and they were talking about someone name Sora?"

"My sister…"

Kagome looked directly at the young man that had intruded in the conversation, shocked at how familiar his face was to her. Inuyasha spoke up before she could say anything.

"It's not him, this is Kumiro. Call the idiot dragon and his woman. We found that portal."

---------------------------------

BlowingWind was comfortably ensconced in her futon, Ryu sitting up beside her and on top of the covers so as not to offend his miko's sensitivities. Her eye cracked blearily open when the phone rang out in their living room.

"I'll get it. Whoever's calling at this hour had better have a good reason… and it better not be another of those mortgage brokers from Saudi Arabia."

Ryu continued grumbling to himself as he opened his eyes and went to answer the phone. BlowingWind listened from the bed, since Ryu had left the door open.

"Moshi-moshi, Take residence. Head of household speaking."

There was silence as he listened to the person on the other line.

"I see. We'll be right there. No, we aren't far away. Hai. Sayonara."

Ryu came back in, went over to the closet, and began changing into a red and black Aikido gi, then began packing travelling bags for himself and BlowingWind, setting out the white leather dress, moccasins, and trousers he knew she would want. Blowing Wind pulled a quilt over her head quickly until she was sure the shameless dragon was done changing.

"What did you think you were doing?"

He looked at her quizzically.

"Changing into something more appropriate than my pajamas. It's time to go. And since you got to watch me then I get to watch you."

She threw a pillow at him, then got up to get her clothes and go behind a changing screen.

"You perverted scaly coyote. I hid."

"Such a shame. The displays I put on for you always go on without return… I've seen you in less while tending your body before…"

Ryu smirked and turned his back to her to give her a little added privacy, the packing done. It didn't take long until she was dressed and they were on their way to the shrine.

-----------------------------------------

Houjo was having trouble sleeping. The items on the family altar kept rearranging themselves noisily and a scroll that had belonged to one of the Houjo family from the feudal age had unrolled itself several times.

"That's it! Fine! I'll stay awake!"

In the kitchen, an orange fell out of a bowl of fruit and rolled off the counter, then along the floor. The fruit rolled from the kitchen out to the hall, then into his room, stopping at the foot of his bed. Houjo got a good look at the strange thing before it started rolling again, this time back out and into the living room, where it waited by the bustsudan. He followed it, tousled hair, plaid pajamas, and all.

"This has been a very strange day."

A glowing light came out of the butsudan, a small firefly that flitted around Houjo and then hovered for a moment before a sword that was hung carefully on the wall. After a moment of regarding the firefly, it turned into a young man remarkably similar to Houjo, but in the white robes and loose hair of the dead.

"Not as strange as some that I have had. Here, you'd better eat this orange. They are good for you. In fact, you will want to take many with you. Kagome-sama will probably appreciate someone bringing healthy food, although her ninja noodles are good."

Houjo stared at the young man, who had the air of a member of the samurai class around him.

"Who are you?"

"A friend of Kagome's just like you. It's been a while since anyone in our family has gone on a sacred quest. I was the last, with transporting the Celestial Robe to the summit of Fujiyama where I cast it into her fires."

Houjo sighed.

"Right. What do I need to do to be ready?"

The ancestral Houjo pointed at the present day Houjo's clothes.

"First, you will be entering the Spirit World. You need to be clothed right."

A blue hakama and haori appeared at the younger Houjo's feet, decorated with the family crest and several flowers. He hurriedly changed into it, the ancestral Houjo nodding in approval at the finished product.

"Second, as a representative of the family you will need to carry a sword. Things are still very traditional on the side of the mists that I am on. Here, take mine."

He brought the sword down from the wall and presented it to the younger Houjo.

"Third. I've already packed for you."

A backpack appeared at the young Houjo's feet, filled with clothes, fruit, and such small items as soap, as well as a blank diary and pens.

"Four, time to go out the door and be grateful that you took those classes in budo. They are here."

A knock came on the door, and the young Houjo hurriedly strapped on his sword and the backpack. Running to the door, he threw it open as soon as he got there. Ryu looked him up and down.

"You clean up nice, that's so much better."

Ryu transformed into a dragon on the spot, using an invisibility spell to hide himself and the humans from view of anyone looking outside. He lowered his great head, dark eyes serious as BlowingWind silently tugged on his scarlet mane to help her mount his black and scaly neck.

"Get on, and hold on tightly."

BlowingWind got herself situated, then leaned down to pull up Houjo when he didn't move in his shock.

"I told you a stunt like that would probably scare him Ryu."

BlowingWind grabbed Ryu's horns and held on after making sure that Houjo's hands were firmly planted. With a mighty leap, Ryu was in the air and streaking for the Higurashi Shrine.

------------------------------

The simple wood room was lit with a blue light, revealing that tatami, and the futon on the ground covered the pine floor. A red head rested on a small pillow, and green eyes shot open in surprise at the sudden burst.

"Father?"

Shippo sat up in bed, hastily tying his long hair back as a kitsune took shape within the cool fire.

"Kagome needs you. Down at the foot of the shrine steps, you will meet her party there."

The fire faded, and Shippo groaned.

"What is this going to do to the time line?"

He reached for his bedside phone, and called his boss, leaving a message for Seshoumaru that he would not be coming into work for a while, leaving a code word.

"Shikon."

After getting up and putting on his clothes, he grabbed a bag and threw some food and clothes in, grateful that he still wore mainly kimono even though they were so supposedly "out of date." Running as fast as he could, he arrived at the foot of the stairs and sat down to wait.


End file.
